welcome to nhk world "newsline." representatives of japan and china are trying to highlight the harmony and friendship between the two nations despite the divisions that exist.

the countries are at odds over territory in the east china sea and as leaders trade bashes over the dispute, people from both sides are meeting to focus on the benefits of the ties. delegates include representatives of japanese associations promoting friendship with china and japan business federation and japanese lawmakers and met thursday with the chairman of the chinese people's political consultative conference. he is a member of the communist party's bureau and holds the fourth most p >> translator: we welcome you, our friends from japan. >> the chairman of the association of the promotion of international trade of japan responded. yohei kono said islands. china also claims the territory.

the chairman of the association of the promotional of international trade responded he said the country ares an important part for asia and the rest of the world. they will attend a dinner party hosted by the chairman of the china-japan friendship association. they exchange $340 billion of goods and service every year, but they frequently disagree over territory and history. >> japanese prime minister traveled to beijing in september of 1972 for talks with chinese premier. their discussions paved the way for the normalization of ties. six years later, the chinese leader announced a dramatic shift in policy. china began accepting foreign investments and moved towards a

market-oriented economy. japan began sending aid and loaned over the years. the japanese prime minister had inflamed tensions after he took office in 2001 with annual business to the shrine in tokyo that honored the war dead and war criminals. china's economy grew year after year. members of the olympic committee underscored the emergence when they named beijing host of the summer games. two years later, china passed japan to be the world's second largest economy. a chinese fishing collided with japanese patrol vessels in thes

en kaku islands. the collision parked widespread protests and angered many japanese. a recent survey suggests animosities are running high. the poll put anti-chinese sentiment at 84%, a record high. 65% of chinese respondents expressed negative views of japan. >> those figures suggest they will be challenged to mend relations, but an expert said it may not be as difficult size it appears. >> japan and chiba have been close are than before. we have thousands of years of relationships, but now is the best in a sense that economic exchange and people to people exchange and the level of these

things higher than ever. don't just focus on the negative aspects of things. there is great resilience in the relationship. >> internal changes in china helped inflame tensions. >> china is rising and there has been an increase in the budgets of the law enforcement agencies, particularly in the sea. the people in china will expect them to be more assertive. particularly regarding issues of sovereignty. >> he said people on both sides have to understand the complexity of their ties. >> everyone should pay more attention to this situation and try to strengthen the resilience in the relationship and weaken the fragility. i think the 40-year process

taught us this. >> japanese retailers were some of the hardest hit from the recent demonstrations in china. it may be a while before it is business as usual. we have more from biz. >> we watch the video writers and they left some businesses trashed by the looting and fires that were set. we are starting to hear how substantial the damage is to japanese companies. the president of the department store chain said that losses from the disturbances will be about $6.4 million. his three outlets in china's province were attacked in the anti-japan demonstrations. they do remain closed. the president said it at a news conference that the loss to business may exceed $16 million if all three stay shut until the end of the year. he said that the company aims to reopen the damaged stores before december 31st.

over the years, china provided a bright spot for business grappling with the strong yen and stlugish economy. nhk world tells us more. >> it welcomes many travelers in recent years. this hotel tries to attract visitors from mainland china. they make up almost 40% of the guests. the hotel is usually full of chinese guests, but none of them are here today. the hotel just learned that a group of 70 tourists counseled their reservations. there have been 4,000 cancellations since the dispute with china began.

that's more than $500,000 in lost business. and more cancelations flew. many take extended holidays from next week. >> next week is normal low the busiest time for chinese guests during the whole year, but we had several cancellations and we are getting worried. >> he is not the only one who is concerned. tourists from china account for a quarter of all international visitors to japan. they are also the biggest individual spenders. one said 50% in the number of chinese visitors will translate to a loss of $1 billion for japan's gdp. japanese firms operated in china and have taken a bigger hit.

protesters and dozens of chinese cities targeted their own businesses. >> translator: i felt like my body was being tortured, watching the cars being destroyed. >> in spite of the tensions, some japanese executives say they will remain committed to doing business in china. this company in osaka makes components for semiconductors. it began soon after the president decided to stop production in china next year. >> translator: i'm quite concerned about the situation. >> one of the company's biggest clients, an auto maker is to begin electric cars in china.

if they are there, stop buying products and sales could suffer. >> translator: there risks. we never know what would happen. we need to consider various possibilities and we hope the problems will be resolved by the time we go to china. >> analysts say such concerns could have the makers to seek production in other countries. >> translator: retailers and others in the nonmanufacturing sector have to take risks if they are to go back to robust demand. it's the second largest economy with 1.3 billion people. when it comes to manufacturers, more firms will likely set up another hub outside of china to reduce the overall risk. >> japan and china closed

economic and business ties, but companies might change course if the tension continues. nhk world. >> the rising anti-japan sentiment is prompting firms to look to myanmar as an alternative destination. a business delegation is urging them to improve the business environment. they were led by the chamber of commerce and made the request in the capital on thursday. they were in talks with the president and minsters in charge of the economy. he asked the officials to create a legal framework needed for foreign investment to provide incentives from investors from overaccess. the country will take measures because he wants more investments from japan. >> ken kobayashi is one of the

delegates visiting. he emphasizes that investor nations should find an affinity for the people in the destination countries. >> costs are not everything when it comes to global investment and expansion. the attachment or otherwise to japan of the people in the operating country is one of the most important factors in doing business overseas. >> before i go, let's get you caught up in the marks. we had a late rally helping to boost sentiment in other markets. the nikkei ending a half percent higher today. the shanghai composite up 2.6%. in europe, major indeces are trading like this. we are seeing pretty much here for most of the majors. london up by 3/10 of 1%.

paris seeing gains of 9/10 of 1%. the dollar is in a tight range against the yen, the euro is slightly lower. 77.69 and euro trading around 99.97. that's going to do it for me. let's go back over to gene now. >> thanks for that. egypt's president stressed the important of mutual understanding of islamic and non-islamic countries in his first speech. >> egypt is pursuing a path towards a modern nation ruled by law and honors democracy and human rights. >> mohamed morsi's remarks aim towards becoming a more islamic nation. that triggered demonstrations

across the muslim world for denigrating the prophet mohammad and eliminate misperceptions about islam. >> we need to hold talks and understand beyond the religion. >> morsi didn't directly criticize the united states that provides egypt with large amounts of aid. >> the iranian president suggested to the general assembly that israel poses a constant threat to his country. the leaders may carry out strikes on nuclear facilities. he said major powers of taking advantage of their nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction to threaten states. >> the continuing threat to resort to military action against our nation is a clear

example of this bitter reality. >> he called for reform of the united nations and the create of a new world order. he currently chairs the non-align movement with 120 countries and territories not linked with a major power block. he said unfairness and discrimination by a few nations is creating an economic divide and feeling conflicts. he told reporters he is ready to negotiate an end to the standoff in the united states if it lifts the sanctions against iran. >> based on the fundamentals of respect, we are ready and willing to have a dilock based on resolving the problems. >> the united states and allies have imposed sanctions over the refusal to halt nuclear development program. he also said that the united

states has unilaterally imposed sanctions on iran for the 33 years since they severed diplomatic ties. he suggested at another meeting in new york that the standard could be resolved through new york world trade center united states. analysts say japan's willingness to talk would be to avoid sanctions in the west to avoid a strike by israel. sudan and south sudan agreed to create a buffer zone to ease tensions over unmarked borders. following the agreement, south sudan resumes oil exports within a few months. they won independence in july of 2011 after two decades of civil war. tensions rose in border areas and developed into clashes in march and april. they were reached between the

president and south sudan president in eating yoep on wednesday after weeks of negotiations. they failed to resolve a territory of dispute over an oil-rich border area. south sudan was exporting through a pipeline and port, but suspended production in january. expectations are growing, but the latest agreement will help normalize relations between the two despite the fact that the source of the conflict remains unresolved. japan's government will work with private firms to step up medical support. the country suffers from a lack of equipment and personnel. officials from the two countries met on wednesday. also taking part were representatives from six firms including medical equipment manufacturers. war and economic sanctions since the 1990s with a serious shortage of facilities and

development. they need more doctors and nurses that hampered the efforts to rebuild. the representatives told the officials they will provide support in building hospitals and work to promote the export of medical development to iraq and train personnel to operate such devices. >> translator: we will work with the japanese government to raise the medical capabilities. >> the equipment maker official added that his company hopes to provide devices that will best suit iraq's needs. government officials trying to find more places to dispose of radioactive debris created by the accident at fukushima. an official said they found a second site to put the west that includes mud and ash located in a national forest. senior vice environment minster

met with the governor to discuss the plan. that's south of fukushima. he said they chose the forest browse it's far from residential areas and offers space and can with stand earthquakes and torrential rains. he needs to consult with residents and municipalities. >> the mayor of the nearby city said he is opposed to the plan and so are many residents. >> i'm against the plan for the sake of our children's futures. i understand that there must be a site somewhere, but i can't completely agree we this. >> the japanese government owns the land to be used for the sit sight and doesn't need approval. officials plan to start construction to house the debris as early as next summer. before that they are trying to

win support and they have one site for radioactive debris. it's a neighboring prefecture. the gaming industry is booming in japan by an increase in smart phone users, but faces a serious shortage of programmers. a game software organized a contest to find talented people. among the contestants were high school students. >> 22 finalists gathered earlier this month. all are students. the total prize money is about $13,000. this is one of three high school students taking part. the three are competing against under graduate and graduate school students.

he became interested in computers in elementary school. he learned how to program video game applications by reading books and online information. >> in programming whether you were in junior or senior high school doesn't matter. even one person can change the world. that's what i like about programming. >> this company organized the competition. demand for social networking has been expanding thanks to a spread of smart phones. last year the market grew to an estimated $3.6 billion, 2.5 times what it was in the previous year. the fast expansion is causing a programmer shortage. software companies are putting up online help wanted ads to fill the openings. some offer to pay $230,000 a year. a fierce battle is going on to

hire programmers. in the contest, the participants are asked to write programs that solve a puzzle by rearranging dies. all the problems are designed specifically to test their skills to write gaming programs. he and other contestants have to come up with ideas to solve the problems and put them sbol numbers and symbols to make them work. they have two hours to solve the five problems. speed is a factor with the accuracy and quality of their programs. he couldn't even start solving the last problem. the winner was a junior at the university of tokyo. he came in eighth, but the top

winner among the high school students. >> translator: i could have done a little better. still, it was fun. >> it is becoming harder to hire good programmers. we want to hold events like this to outdo the competitors in attracting talented programmers. . >> the company plans to host similar contests to hire programmers with talent. >> a typhoon is swirling towards okinawa's islands. robert? >> this is typhoon towards the southeast of taiwan towards the north. this is bringing heavy rains, but next is the western portions and also eastern taiwan here. you could be seeing upwards of

250 millimeters of rainfall. on friday in isolated oaks especially the mountains could be seeing much more than that. they are high at risk across the area as the storm pulls off towards the north. then it's expected to turn towards the northeast and hitting every island along the way. winds will be expect and high waves up to seven to eight meters and heavy rains continuing to a couple ult. coastal flooding due to the storm surges pulling off towards the northeast. it will weaken, but still heavy rains across western japan. we are continuing to watch severe tropical storm owen. there was a report of 96 kilometer per hour wins. it's not like they continue to kick up and pull across portions of tokyo, bringing the rains

friday into saturday. the storm pulls off on the northeast. let's go back to the west. moisture has been falling across north eastern india creating devastating floods. i want to show you the video where the floods being triggered by the heavy rain swept across the northeast state. dozens of people have been killed. over 400,000 are homeless and nearly two million have been displaced. local farmlands of submerged with rivers flowing and risen more than two meters. this is hit by floods each year and the government is helping out by sending in bags of rice and salt and fortunately all the homes flooded. they will be up to themselves to rebuild that back up. from the next several days, expect the showers to push in. the northeast monsoon sets in

around early october and bring fairer weather. a devastating scenario. let's talk about europe over the past several days. we are talking about a strong low pressure area over portions of the british isles. still a long front bringing showers and skwauly conditions as well. pressure setting in and coming over the weekend, more rain showers. won't be nearly as bad as the storm that triggered up to 100 kilometer rain showers. also across the peninsula, you need it. they are under krout. too much under too short of a time will cause risk of flood. london and paris is autumn light. 15 and 17 with windy conditions. off towards the east, sunny

skies in warsaw. here's the extended forecast.

. >> we will be back with more updates in 30 minutes. i'm gene a totani in tokyo.